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In the 12,000 years preceding the Industrial Revolution, human activities led to significant changes in land cover, plant and animal distributions, surface hydrology, and biochemical cycles. Earth system models suggest that this anthropogenic land cover change influenced regional and global climate. However, the representation of past land use in earth system models is currently oversimplified. As a result, there are large uncertainties in the current understanding of the past and current state of the earth system. In order to improve representation of the variety and scale of impacts that past land use had on the earth system, a global effort is underway to aggregate and synthesize archaeological and historical evidence of land use systems. Here we present a simple, hierarchical classification of land use systems designed to be used with archaeological and historical data at a global scale and a schema of codes that identify land use practices common to a range of systems, both implemented in a geospatial database. The classification scheme and database resulted from an extensive process of consultation with researchers worldwide. Our scheme is designed to deliver consistent, empirically robust data for the improvement of land use models, while simultaneously allowing for a comparative, detailed mapping of land use relevant to the needs of historical scholars. To illustrate the benefits of the classification scheme and methods for mapping historical land use, we apply it to Mesopotamia and Arabia at 6 kya (c. 4000 BCE). The scheme will be used to describe land use by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) LandCover6k working group, an international project comprised of archaeologists, historians, geographers, paleoecologists, and modelers. Beyond this, the scheme has a wide utility for creating a common language between research and policy communities, linking archaeologists with climate modelers, biodiversity conservation workers and initiatives.

Geovisualization, here perceived broadly as a representation of data on a digital map, has been used within a number of disciplines for different purposes: from creating new knowledge to sharing existing scholarly ideas. This chapter focuses on how building maps conceptually and with specific research questions in mind often requires a set of fresh methodologies. Methodologies ought to be tailored to conceptual research questions and existing limitations set by data, as well as aggregation, and visualization software. Through an analysis of three case studies spanning the disciplines of archaeology, linguistics and ethnology, classics and media studies, we identify a number of methodological choices and limitations for geovisualization set by available fragmented historical data, digital platforms for data aggregation, and visualization software. We then highlight two issues that are open for further development, more specifically 1) the complexities of representing multiple temporal data in one single mapping interface, as well as 2) the need for common global vocabularies and ontologies that provide us with the possibilities of linking common references.

A current Swedish review of digital history claims that research in digital history in Sweden is almost absent.[1] This statement must naturally be considered in the light of how the field is defined, and in this article we choose a broad definition consisting of the aggregate domain of studies in which digital material and tools are used to study the past. Digital history is without a doubt a more active field in English-speaking academic settings, but there are a number of well-established projects and initiatives in Sweden. The case studies presented in this article are cross-disciplinary and might therefore not define themselves as strictly (or solely) digital history. This may, however, be irrelevant in the post-disciplinary context. The digitization of historical source material has increasingly compelled Swedish historians to navigate in digital environments. This increased accessibility and the capacity for digitally processing historical material hold great potential for empowering research. While on the one hand, considerable growth can be expected in the coming years as technology becomes more accessible, user-friendly and domain science orientated [2], on the other hand, the expansion of digital archives and the development of digital tools are already posing new challenges for historians. Knowledge and understanding of digital media needs to be augmented considerably in order to fully take advantage of contemporary research opportunities and challenges. This essay will discuss how the creation of data and the use of new digital tools might support a variety of types of historical research, primarily by looking at developments in digital humanities (hereon DH) and digital archaeology. The variegated realm of DH practices, with their background in humanities computing and computing linguistics, will be used as a point of departure. Internationally, DH often uses the concept of labs to describe environments designed for the use of data and tools in interdisciplinary research.[3] Centres of DH have primarily been created in the USA and, more recently, in Europe. While on-going research in multiple fields, using digital data and tools, is contributing important new knowledge and developing infrastructures which are advancing the study of history; there is, of course, considerable room for improvement, both in terms of the efficiency of the tools and the scope of their application. This article will present two Swedish examples of interdisciplinary and collaborative lab spaces which are currently involved in research on the past. The more disciplinary practices of digital archaeology and digital history will also be examined in order to flag out current historically orientated research which may fall under the umbrella of DH. The essay will conclude by discussing some potential future directions. Published 2014-10-23 Screens as Material History Education

In the 12,000 years preceding the Industrial Revolution, human activities led to significant changes in land cover, plant and animal distributions, surface hydrology, and biochemical cycles. Earth system models suggest that this anthropogenic land cover change influenced regional and global climate. However, the representation of past land use in earth system models is currently oversimplified. As a result, there are large uncertainties in the current understanding of the past and current state of the earth system. In order to improve representation of the variety and scale of impacts that past land use had on the earth system, a global effort is underway to aggregate and synthesize archaeological and historical evidence of land use systems. Here we present a simple, hierarchical classification of land use systems designed to be used with archaeological and historical data at a global scale and a schema of codes that identify land use practices common to a range of systems, both implemented in a geospatial database. The classification scheme and database resulted from an extensive process of consultation with researchers worldwide. Our scheme is designed to deliver consistent, empirically robust data for the improvement of land use models, while simultaneously allowing for a comparative, detailed mapping of land use relevant to the needs of historical scholars. To illustrate the benefits of the classification scheme and methods for mapping historical land use, we apply it to Mesopotamia and Arabia at 6 kya (c. 4000 BCE). The scheme will be used to describe land use by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) LandCover6k working group, an international project comprised of archaeologists, historians, geographers, paleoecologists, and modelers. Beyond this, the scheme has a wide utility for creating a common language between research and policy communities, linking archaeologists with climate modelers, biodiversity conservation workers and initiatives.

In the 12,000 years preceding the Industrial Revolution, human activities led to significant changes in land cover, plant and animal distributions, surface hydrology, and biochemical cycles. Earth system models suggest that this anthropogenic land cover change influenced regional and global climate. However, the representation of past land use in earth system models is currently oversimplified. As a result, there are large uncertainties in the current understanding of the past and current state of the earth system. In order to improve representation of the variety and scale of impacts that past land use had on the earth system, a global effort is underway to aggregate and synthesize archaeological and historical evidence of land use systems. Here we present a simple, hierarchical classification of land use systems designed to be used with archaeological and historical data at a global scale and a schema of codes that identify land use practices common to a range of systems, both implemented in a geospatial database. The classification scheme and database resulted from an extensive process of consultation with researchers worldwide. Our scheme is designed to deliver consistent, empirically robust data for the improvement of land use models, while simultaneously allowing for a comparative, detailed mapping of land use relevant to the needs of historical scholars. To illustrate the benefits of the classification scheme and methods for mapping historical land use, we apply it to Mesopotamia and Arabia at 6 kya (c. 4000 BCE). The scheme will be used to describe land use by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) LandCover6k working group, an international project comprised of archaeologists, historians, geographers, paleoecologists, and modelers. Beyond this, the scheme has a wide utility for creating a common language between research and policy communities, linking archaeologists with climate modelers, biodiversity conservation workers and initiatives.